Just as November comes to an end, let's see what things we've missed in the last few days...

BIPOLAR SUNSHINE NEW SINGLE "DAYDREAMER"
I'm still wondering when we're actually going to get an album or even an EP from Bipolar Sunshine to be honest. But at least we're getting singles out of this waiting game. This latest single here isn't my favourite of the recent bunch but maybe it will grow on me in time.


LOS CAMPESINOS! NEW SINGLE "WHEN CHRISTMAS COMES"
What better way to start off December than with a festive belter from Los Campesinos!? And hey what d'you know?! It comes as part of a Christmas EP here which you'll probably be playing from now until the 25th.


WAYWARD DAUGHTER EP LAUNCH ANNOUNCEMENT
If you're still confused on a Christmas present to buy for someone close, this would be a great shout. Wayward Daughter announced the launch for their Carry Me EP happening at The Garage, Highbury & Islington on the 16th of December. If it's anything like their last EP launch here it'll be BIG. I'd suggest grabbing ticket from here ASAP.


BEYONCE NEW MUSIC VIDEO "7/11"
To be honest, I'm sure 95% of the people reading this have already seen the video BUT in case you're one of the few who has been deprived of it somehow click here to make yourself smile. I wrote about the song about a week ago here and I still don't think it's a good song but this video is just so entertaining  that I can't overlook it anymore. Beyoncé is queen.


MALLORY KNOX NEW MUSIC VIDEO "WHEN ARE WE WAKING UP?"
I finally managed to catch Mallory Knox live last week (review coming soon) and they were everything that I expected and more and so was this new music video actually. Mikey's voice has improved in my opinion and I loved this sophomore album. This fantastic song coupled with this attention-holding video, yes. Check it out here.


IGGY AZALEA NEW LYRIC VIDEO "BEG FOR IT (FEAT. MØ)"
Even though I'm not really a fan of Iggy I am definitely a fan of MØ and all in all, this is a catchy single. I have to admit that in this song, MØ doesn't really sound like herself but as it's a pretty different genre to her comfort zone she had to switch it up a little. It's definitely the standard Iggy formula for a chart hit but despite the samey-ness I'm sure fans will still listen to it here.


NME AWARDS TOUR LINE UP ANNOUNCED
2015's NME Awards Tour is looking HUGE! Fat White Family, The Amazing Snakeheads, Palma Violets and Slaves all in one show?!?! No doubt that this'll sell out pretty easily. This year's line up here was still awesome but very versatile. Next year's four artists are each pretty similar and also pretty awesome. Check out the flyer here.


FIRST FEW FESTIVAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
Hopefully most people will have caught the first Reading & Leeds 2015 announcement this week, but in case you didn't, among the names mentioned were Metallica (headlining), Jamie T, Run The Jewels, Pierce The Veil and more. Then Glastonbury announced Lionel Richie for the Sunday earlier today. Finally, Field Day had their first announcement too with Chet Faker, Caribou, Django Django, Patti Smith, DIIV and more. Well, well, well 2015!


SLAVES NEW SINGLE "THE HUNTER"
Yet another reason to go and catch them at next year's NME Awards Tour, Slaves are killing it right now. If this single hasn't already, I'm sure that the tour will generate a lot of new fans for them. I love the bass intro to this track - they would be immense to see live. Have a listen here. Little bit prog rock - I like it.


AS ELEPHANTS ARE NEW SINGLE "BREATHE"
I feel like I haven't heard a lot from As Elephants Are in a while so it's nice to have something new from them to jive to. Also, another band that I'm waiting for a debut record from. I'm sure that that will be their catalyst - they already craft songs so well, a full length would be too golden to ignore. But until then, here's the new track.


WHILE SHE SLEEPS NEW MUSIC VIDEO "FOUR WALLS"
I just love how close this new record seems! Only two singles out and I already know this is going to be an album to write about. WSS's tour next year after the album release will be frenetic. Seeing them at Reading this year was already manic - on the back of these two spectacular albums - oh goodness! Have a listen to the new single here.


JUCE NEW MUSIC VIDEO "6TH FLOOR"
The three piece girl band literally bringing the old school back to the present. Of course almost every artist has had old school influences that work their way back into the mainstream, but JUCE are bringing it back with no changes. These songs sound straight out of the 80s - vibey. Listen and watch here.


THE NIGHT VI NEW SINGLE "FEARS"
Yay! I am loving this six piece at the minute and I don't think that that'll change too soon. All of The Night VI's songs just sound so silky smooth. It'd be lovely to hear them live. Always happy to hear something new from them be it an original or a cover. But until the next one here is the enchanting "Fears". Grab the EP it's from here.

So my first gig of November was Royal Blood, I'd say that there are worse ways to start a month! I still can't believe the way that they've escalated! I'm just glad that I got be there for it from here until now.

As expected the show was sold out but I often find that "sold out" shows still have a bunch of free seats and ample room to move around in by the time I get there. However, this show was definitely sold out, balconies were packed and standing was so packed that I could feel the heart beat of the person behind me. Safe to say that I was steeling myself for a rowdy show. Turbowolf were supporting and although I'd heard of them before, I hadn't heard any of their material until the live show so I wasn't sure what to expect. They were really cool though - super eccentric, mainly due to the lead singer's crazy ad-libs and wild movements. It was like grunge meets glam rock and throws a hard rock party. Lots of mic swinging, foot stomping and hair stroking but amidst all the theatrics were some raging beats, awesome instrumentals and heavy breakdowns. Yes. They tried really hard to get the crowd hyped, managing a couple of pits and some good crowd banter. All in all, they're each fantastic musicians and I'd definitely advise checking them out.

It seemed like we were waiting for Royal Blood for ages but once they stepped on stage everyone forgot about that, the atmosphere went from 0 to 100 real quick. They entered to Jay-Z's "99 Problems" (much to my delight) and then plowed straight in with "Hole". The crowd was galvanised. I have to admit, as a whole, the crowd was A LOT tamer than the crowd at their Reading set this year here, but they did put up a bit of a fight. Pits forming in the middle, sweat flying off of peoples bodies but the best thing about the whole show was that every single person in that crowd knew the lyrics. There wasn't one point in the show when I couldn't just turn to a random stranger and scream the lyrics with/at them as if we'd written the song ourselves and it was brilliant. Comparing it to the first time I saw Royal Blood perform at Institute here they seemed heaps more confident and they absolutely killed it. They played every single song on the album. EVERY. SINGLE. SONG... PLUS B-SIDES. I near on lost my mind. I was a little surprised to leave the show with "Ten Tonne Skeleton" stuck in my head and not "Out Of The Black" but man that song is catchy! It was just a great night and I know it's early on but I cannot wait for another album from them - this debut will be hard to beat! My third time seeing them and definitely not the last. Great show, great band.

Overall Rating - 8/10


Here are some pictures from the night...

Now that we've just entered the month of June, I thought that it would be appropriate to catch up on all of the music news that we may have missed in the past few days leading up to this month...

DIAMOND YOUTH RELEASE NEW EP "UK OK"
Diamond Youth, whom I wrote about as a new discovery here almost two years ago, have been wanting to cross the pond and come over to the UK for a long time now. It would seem that they finally have the chance as they are set to support Citizen on tour here in the coming months. However, they have to buy their own tickets. So they've released this EP available for a short amount of time to try and raise money towards it. Help them out and buy it for $4 here.


FOO FIGHTERS ANNOUNCE HBO SERIES "SONIC HIGHWAYS"
It's no secret that Foo Fighters are releasing their eight album this year (in November) but now we find out that they're also releasing a HBO documentary series detailing the recording process - as they recorded a song in eight different cities across America. This has never before been done as far as I know, and to have it done by one of my favourite bands ever makes me even more excited for it. Watch the trailer here.


CARIBOU NEW SINGLE "CAN'T DO WITHOUT YOU"
In fairness, I haven't heard much from Caribou since their album - Swim - and so it is very refreshing to hear this new track from them, and just in time for summer too! It's got such a nice light hearted vibe. I'm really looking forward to the new record Our Love out on the 6th of October. Until that release date, here's the latest track.


MALLORY KNOX NEW SINGLE "QODII"
I'd been hearing about Mallory Knox working on their sophomore album a little bit this year but I had no idea that they were already ready to release new singles from it, and ones as good as this at that! I was a little bit unsure about it at first but after a couple of listens, I definitely like it - am looking forward to listening to the entire album soon. Check out the single here.


WAYWARD DAUGHTER NEW MERCH LAUNCH
All you Wayward fans are definitely going to want to get your hands on the new Wayward Daughter merch. It's all pretty minimalist but stylish at the same time. I'm personally most excited about the custom plectrums, however the new "My Bones Are Like Feathers" tee is very nice too. Give it all a look, and maybe even make a purchase here.


DARLIA NEW MUSIC VIDEO "DEAR DIARY"
Since Darlia's last single "Candyman", I've been really excited to hear new stuff from them, and now I have both a song and a video to sample?! Yes. I absolutely love this song and I'm expecting exciting things from their debut album, they're a very interesting new band right now. Hopefully I'll catch them at a festival this summer but until then, here's their new video.


BIPOLAR SUNSHINE NEW VIDEO "DECKCHAIRS ON THE MOON"
After seeing Bipolar Sunshine live a couple of months ago here, I've been keeping an eye on his movements and he actually released this single a few weeks ago but he's finally put out a video for it, and thank goodness he did - it is definitely a worthy single. Such a nice summer chill vibe. This will definitely be getting a lot of play time these next few months. Treat your eardrums and eyeballs here.


FALL OUT BOY WRITING NEW MUSIC
After their last, and very disappointing, album Save Rock And Roll, I'm not entirely sure that this is a good thing. However, seeing as the last few Fall Out Boy albums were so great I feel like there is still hope for an awesome new album - I suppose we'll have to wait and see just what this new writing will bring.


CIRCA WAVES NEW SINGLE "YOUNG CHASERS"
After chatting with the boys (here) during their NME Awards Tour, I've been waiting for news about them, and here they are with their latest single. As expected it's an indie rock festival anthem - it will definitely be a hit for them at their upcoming Glastonbury appearance. Circa Waves are really trailblazing right now, I expect big things from them over the next year. Have a listen to the new one here.


LIMP BIZKIT NEW SINGLE "ENDLESS SLAUGHTER"
Limp Bizkit announced the release of a new single this week and actually stated that they'd be releasing it on cassette. After their single release around this time last year, featuring Lil' Wayne (here), who knows what this new track will sound like?! I suppose I'll have to dig out my old walkman and have a listen.


INTERPOL ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM "EL PINTOR" 
Another band that I've been keeping an ear out for since the NME Awards Tour here and how could I not?! They absolutely smashed their set that night and since doing my research on their back catalogue, I would can now call myself a fan. I'm looking forward to hearing Interpol's new record in the near future.


Find out what you might have missed last month in the music world here...

New guys on the scene - Circa Waves, recently went on the NME Awards Tour, which I reviewed here, around the UK and luckily had the time to chat with me during the tour about what they had coming up. Here's what their drummer, Sian and guitarist, Joe, had to say...

The day after the NME Awards Tour I went to go and see Tinie Tempah at Wolverhampton Civic Hall. Tinie is probably my favourite British rapper right now and this night definitely cemented that...

Supporting Tinie for this date was new UK Grime artists Krept & Konan. After their track "Don't Waste My Time" came out I've been hearing them everywhere. I do love that one song but must admit I don't think I'd heard any others before going. They really killed it though - great performance. The crowd was jumping, everybody getting ready for the main event. My friends and I were seated for these supports and the atmosphere was just horrible - sitting will never compare to standing at a gig - so we went downstairs to stand for Tinie Tempah.

The wait was just the right amount of time, the crowd was becoming restless and a little bit rowdy just as the lights dimmed and the opening song came on. Before long, lights were flashing around the stage, with both Tinie and the band stood behind a curtain, so that their silhouettes were illuminated onto it. As the curtain fell and the intro to "Lover Not A Fighter" came in, everyone was buzzing. You could tell just from the initial crowd reaction, that it was going to be a great night. I also have to take this moment to mention how much I loved Tinie's first outfit (pictured below), suave as well as "space-age" - yes.

I digress. Between the onstage banter from Tinie and the band, they played through huge bangers like "Frisky", "Wonderman", "Trampoline" and "Don't Sell Out", and I was completely loving it. The crowd was really engaged, jumping about, waving their arms and one member of the crowd even FaceTiming their friend the concert! Spirits were just super high and Tinie kept them that way. What I found nice throughout the set is that Tinie actually chatted with the crowd, and explained some of the background and origin to his songs. It gave the show a really personal element and it actually felt like more of a party than a show. He slowed things down in the middle with "A Heart Can Save The World", "Heroes" and "It's OK", before hitting the immense climactic finish with basically every track you could imagine. It's crazy to think that he could put together a set like this with just two albums out! The set ended with the crowd chanting the lyrics to "Tsunami". During this final song, the band came out from behind their instruments, did a shot on stage with Tinie and performed a little routine to the song - it was just brilliant... definitely brought a smile to my face.

To be honest the set actually could have ended there and I would have been happy, but of course, the encore was killer - performing Rita Ora's "R.I.P." and a song from Demonstration - "Mosh Pit" - which of course sparked a huge pit. This had me elated to be honest - I think that this is the first R&B/Rap gig that I've been to where there has been a mosh pit. Tinie really just sets himself apart from other rappers nowadays and of course he brought the fantastic night to a close with the iconic "Pass Out".

Overall Rating - 8.5/10


Here are some pictures from the night...

Late last month (25/03/14), I was lucky enough to get a free ticket to the NME Awards Tour at The Institute, Birmingham and even luckier to get an interview with one of the supports - Circa Waves (which will be up soon). I'd been thinking about buying tickets myself a while back but never had enough money to justify a ticket. I'm glad that I did get to go in the end because this was not something to be missed.

First up was Circa Waves, a new Indie Rock band recently signed to Transgressive Records - if you're into bands like Two Door Cinema Club and The Strokes, you should probably give them a listen. Anyway, the downside of being on first is that you have the smallest crowd. They played the kind of set that needs a few thousand people there screaming and getting riled up, it was a complete show and only a couple hundred people were there to witness it. However, by the end of the set, the crowd had grown and the cheers and claps grew louder. All in all, they did what they set out to do because I'm sure that I few people who came there that night not knowing who Circa Waves were, left that place with their name printed in their mind. Job done. 

Next up was Royal Blood! Since writing about them here as a "new discovery", I've been waiting for my chance to see them but I definitely did not think it'd be this soon, and also didn't think that it'd be this awesome!! They absolutely slayed the set. Experiencing them live really made me realise just how talented both of them are as musicians, every drum fill was perfect, accompanied by equally perfect gritty and dirty bass riffs - the crowd wasn't sure what to do with themselves. Their singles "Out Of The Black", "Come On Over" and "Little Monster" were immense! The only thing that I can fault the set on is that Michael said half way through "HOW'RE YOU DOING NOTTINGHAM?!"..... no no, this is Birmingham.

It was a huge change when neo-psychedelic Temples stepped on stage next. Having seen them already, I pretty much new what to expect but some people seemed a little taken aback by the sudden change in genre and I feel like this might have calmed down the crowd's hype a little too much. Nonetheless, they played a very together set... everything was so tidy. Perhaps everything was a little too perfect if I'm honest but there's no mistaking that it was a good set. I had a chat with the drummer, bassist and their merch guy afterwards and they are all extremely lovely guys - I wish that people had been able to get more into their set.


Finally was the night's headliners - Interpol! MY. GOODNESS. I mean, I thought that they'd be good but they were phenomenal! Better than I could have ever imagined. I only went into the gig knowing about five of their songs, but they had me dancing and headbanging throughout as if I'd heard all of their songs a billion times. The drummer was ridiculously good, it was actually silly. Everything was so technical but he executed it with near perfection; therefore I'd say I was pretty excited when I caught his drumstick at the end. The guitarist was very entertaining - a complete showman - whipping his hair and smiling at the crowd. This was the polar opposite to the bassist who stood in the back, quietly skilled, just dropping in awesome, technical riffs every now and again.Of course, Paul Banks was the ultimate frontman getting the crowd worked up, particularly some smitten middle-aged women near the front. I definitely feel obligated to acquire their entire discography after that performance! I feel like I'm missing out. Fabulous all round. Just a top quality night!

Overall Rating - 9/10


Here are some pictures from the night...